As TV’s hottest show goes out with a bang, Julie is struggling to cope with the recognition it’s brought her, writes Katherine Chatfield.
MasterChef favourite Julie Goodwin has prompted concerns that she’s finding it difficult to cope with the pressure of fame, after admitting she suffered an apparent mild panic attack during one of the show’s challenges.
The usually bubbly Julie was separated from her fellow contestants during a challenge at Sydney’s Bondi Junction, and tells us she was “scared of being alone in public” after she started sweating and having heart palpitations.
“I haven’t had a single episode like that since then — I just started to feel a bit weird about being by myself,” she says, also admitting that “she never wanted to be famous”.
But fame comes hand-in-hand with being part of one of the most talked about television shows of the year. And with the fame comes intense pressure and scrutiny — as Julie has discovered.
“The tension [in the final two] was palpable,” she says. “The nearer you get to the end, the more pressure there is. The nervous tension is indescribable. I can’t believe my heart hasn’t given out.”
Julie’s husband Michael admits he had no idea how much pressure Julie was under until he saw the finals week on TV.
Used to being surrounded by love from her husband of 20 years and her three sons, Joe, 13, Tom, 12, and Paddy, 10, Julie has also had to bear the brunt of negative comments from some of her fellow contestants.
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